72. Dual with Dura

72. Dual with Dura

I watch Aello return to Harpy Mountain with a reluctant smile. Maybe it’s a fault of mine, but I can’t hold a woman’s crimes against her after getting to know her sexually and impregnating her with my spawn. Yes, she’s a monster, and yes, she ate a lot of people, but I don’t mind making Aello pay her debt to civilized society by bearing my offspring as long as she stays ‘monster vegan.’

I did have the presence of mind to ask for a flight of Harpies come sunrise. They’ll be useful as messengers, scouts, or transport from now on.

“Okay, Alex, have fun on your date with the big lady. I’m going inside to check on Megan. See you in a bit!” With that, Gale heads inside the hut, no longer bound by a restriction to stay in the nest while pursuing pleasure.

It’s just me and Dura now.

First, though, let me take care of some things.

*Breeder Marks – Four (Male), None (Female)!*

Paternal Malleability I (II - 3)

Paternal Customization (3)

Paternal Inheritance I

Paternal Seminal Control

Volume

Qualities

Spawn Attributes

Paternal Seminal Potency

Sustenance

Sperm

Lure

Partner Tracker

Partner Map

Partner Brand

Distress Call

Maternal Ovarian Control

Maternity Ward

Create Womb Seed

Maternal Fetus Protection

Maternal Brand

Fast-Maturing Spawn

Maternal Inheritance I

Maternal Fast-Gestation I Discover new chapters at novelhall.com

Maternal Mammary Control and Potency

Sustenance

Pacification

Allure

*Selected Partner Brand!*

No idea what it does, but anything that binds my girls closer to me makes sense. I might not use it if applying the ‘brand’ causes excessive pain, though... I don’t intend to become a slave owner!

*Selected Paternal Seminal Control!*

*Choose one*

Volume

Qualities

Spawn Attributes

*Selected Qualities!*

Having chosen this ability, vague possibilities begin trickling into my mind. This magic allows me to control the nature of my semen to an extent: viscosity, flavor, etc. Mostly a cosmetic thing and a quality-of-life improvement, but I have a feeling there may be practical applications.

*Selected Paternal Seminal Potency!*

Smiling to myself, I propose the following, “We’ll restrict summoned items.” The Ogress’ club is an impressive weapon but I’m not removing it from play out of fear.

“No weap’ns?” Dura nods. “Only fist?”

I nod in return, holding up my arm as a visual aid. “Only punching until one of us yields. I don’t want either of us getting too hurt to fuck.”

The Ogress punches her palm and grins at me. “Dura accep’.”

We square off in Gabby’s front yard. I’m sweating a little bit despite my plan. While I’ve fought third-tier monsters before and she’s only second-tier, this won’t be a picnic. I had help during those previous encounters. This time, I’m going solo.

She cracks her knuckles. “Alex stronger den last time?”

I shake my head, “No, but I picked up some tricks along the way.”

Thrusting my arms into the ground, I stand wearing stone gauntlets.

Dura looks at my arms coated in heavy rock and grins as she lunges for me. “Now dis a fight!”

Our fists collide with a loud clap of impact and a *crack* that echoes across the field. My stone fist starts to crumble along fracture lines spiderwebbing from where they hit Dura’s knuckles. With an exertion of will, the cracks retreat along their paths as I fuse the broken gauntlet whole again. This won't be easy, but this means I can go toe to toe with an Ogre!

I have three Swarm Slime Multitasking focuses, one for my gauntlets, one using Fast Learner to optimize my fighting style, and one to cycle through my magic.

Backpedaling from Dura's next punch, I weave a ball of smoky darkness. While the Imp's advanced spell work is currently beyond me, conjuring whisps of blinding shadowy energy comes naturally. I toss the inky orb at the Ogress' face.

Dura blocks the projectile with her forearm and a short-lived burst of obscuring blackness interrupts line of sight. I take advantage of the distraction to Wolf Rush forward and land a jab to her stomach.

"Oof!" Dura sounds more surprised than hurt as my stone-coated fist digs into her bare midriff. Her hand hunts me through the fading fog to grab my shoulder. Predator Sense flares hot.

"Shit," I say as her ham-sized fist hurtles my way. Stone gauntlets raised in defense shatter on impact as I stumble away.

In terms of both offense and defense, Ogres are nothing to scoff at.

Dura proves smarter than the average Ogress as well when she dodges my next shadow ball. No! She crouches under it and snakes out her foot to sweep my legs as I go in for a blindside strike. My back hits the ground with a thud.

Pitcher Treefolk Vines drag me along the ground to prevent the Amazonian Ogress from pouncing on my defenseless supine body. I roll, struggle to my feet, and duck a lariat as Dura charges at me. Back up with a scary/sexy monster on my ass, I strafe her while shooting a water jet at her feet like I did to the Mole-men.

Instead of turning to face me and churning the soil beneath her feet to mud, Dura breaks from my encirclement to charge after me at frightening speeds. I'm beginning to think that strategy isn't going to work more than once.

"Tch," I grumble as I prepare my new Air Magic. I never got the chance to play with the weaker version before upgrading it into something deadly. I'd throw an air blade at her if this were a death match. What I can do is pump palm thrusts at her in a series of powerful gusts.

Smaller monsters would be blown away by my display. Dura just lowers her head and barrels forward, toes digging in the dirt for purchase as she overcomes hurricane force winds. I break off the barrage in time to avoid a grab attack.

I don't have Flou around for Blood Magic, and I'm not eager to cut myself. Spears are off the table. One look at her biceps confirms she'd snap my vines with a shrug. I'm out of tricks.

I just hope I've stalled long enough.

Fast Learner is still one of my best tools, and I've been watching Dura fight. How she moves, attacks, and evades. Adding this data to my previous experience witnessing her battle with Igrut, and I have a decent mental model of her style. Time to put it to the test.

Dura throws a confident right cross at me. With Wolf Rush, Predator Sense, and Fast Learner, I finally have the speed and battle sense to dodge inside her guard and deliver a potent stony uppercut. The Ogress is the one to stumble backwards this time.

She shakes her head, wipes a trickle of blood from her mouth, and gives me a tusky smile. “Dura was gett’n bored. Now we hav’n fun!”

We begin exchanging blows in earnest. While I need to deliver enough pain to make her surrender without breaking anything important, if I fail to dodge or block even one strike, I'm basically done. I'm confident of my survival with second tier Slime Constitution, but I won't exactly be in the mood for kissing after losing a tooth for example. I don't accept failure as an option.

Wolf Rushes devour my stamina as Dura's punches come faster to push my limits. She has the advantage on strength, reach, and endurance, and she's not afraid to use them. The Ogress happily takes three strikes to her abdomen to better her chances of landing a fight-ending counterblow. The powerful hook misses my head by a hair, thundering in my ear as it passes.

I can tell from the look in her eyes we both know her smart play would be to turtle-down and let me exhaust myself. But that wouldn't be fun.

"Bwa ha ha ha!" Dura laughs as she attempts to trample me underfoot with her weight advantage.

I have to devote two Multitasking focuses to my vines and a powerful tailwind to escape her clutches this time. I roll, pop up, and double-punch the air. I learned this trick from Peter. My gauntlets fly off my wrists to become projectiles.

One misses as she turns to face me but the other digs into her kidney before crumbling. Dura grunts, stumbles, then keeps coming. How fucking tough is this Ogress?

Gasping for breath, I pull a fresh pair of gauntlets from the ground and know I can't rely on Wolf Rush anymore. She'll get me for sure if I run out of juice now. I'm relying on Fast Learner and Predator Sense at this point.

Double Earth style! I use my free focus to make her pivot foot slip as she throws her next punch. My counter rocks her world, but she doesn't faint.

I risk an encore, but Dura proves once again why I can't rely on repeats.

The Ogress stamps so hard the ground buckles, disrupting my spell construct, and she buries her foot to the ankle. She uses this deep anchor to ignore my Earth Magic and kicks me with her other leg. I raise a gauntlet to block in the nick of time, but her legs are even stronger than her punches and I'm sent flying.

Dazed, confused, but unhurt, I slowly rise to find Dura charging me. She flings her arms wide to make escape impossible. She'll catch me in a bear hug for certain.

Then an idea sparks in the adrenaline moment. I've got one trick left.

I fire vines from my waist that wrap around Dura's chest. A stone pillar pushes me into the air as I jump. A tailwind propels me forward as I lift a stony fist and punch Dura in the jaw.

She's caught off-guard by the counterattack and burst of speed, taking the blow full-on. I ride her chest to the ground where she falls.

I panic for a moment that I hit her too hard and repeated my feat with Malik. Then I feel her chest rumbling under me.

"Ha ha ha ha! Dura don ev'n mind losing when Alex dat fun!"

Never underestimate an Ogress' toughness.

*Defeated the Ogress - One Goblinoid Mark!*

*Marks Consolidated!*

*Ogress Layer - Two Goblinoid Marks!*